It is well known in the vehicle industry that certain rotary accessory devices are often used in connection with vehicle motors. Two such well known accessory devices are alternators and starter motors. Alternators are used in connection with an engine, typically by being driven by a belt that is driven by the engine. Alternators have internal components which when rotated supply electrical power which may be used in the vehicle and/or engine. Alternators are typically removably but rigidly mounted via a bracket to the engine block or the chassis of the vehicle. In many cases, where a standard type of alternating mounting arrangement is used, the alternator has “ears” with holes that are mounted onto a post or belt attached to the vehicle permitting pivoting of the alternator so that the alternator can be pivoted around the post against the belt tension in order to install and remove belts, and provide a suitable tension when the belt is installed.
Starter motors are electrical motors which are typically removably but rigidly mounted to an engine or transmission casing and which have an electrically driven pinion gear extending from the starter motor that engages a component, typically gears on the flywheel of the engine, in order to be able to rotate the crank shaft of the engine to start it. There are a wide range of attachment mechanisms for attaching such a starter motor.
It is often desirable to test alternators and/or starter motors at locations where they have been removed from the vehicle, e.g. on a test bench. For example, such testing may be desirable before installing a new alternator or starter or may be desirable for removing an existing alternator or starter for testing when diagnosing vehicle problems.
When testing an alternator, it is desirable to be able to attach a belt to the pulley of the alternator and drive the alternator belt with a motor. This situation requires both (1) a way to securely but removably mount the alternator, and (2) a way to provide the belt tensioning. It would be desirable to have an apparatus and method that is able to conveniently mount the alternator to the overall testing apparatus so that it can be quickly, conveniently, safely, and easily installed and/or removed with respect to the testing apparatus. It would also be desirable to have an apparatus and method that can quickly, conveniently, safely and easily provide tension to a belt that is used to drive the alternator via a motor associated with the testing apparatus.
When testing starter motors, the starter motor is typically connected to a device that provides power to the starter motor so the motor is selectively operated. In such a situation, it is desirable to be able to hold the starter motor in place in a convention location during testing. Thus, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that can quickly, conveniently, safely and easily provide a mount for a starter motor in a testing apparatus.